


Starlight

by soniabigcheese



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 12:12:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13810950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soniabigcheese/pseuds/soniabigcheese
Summary: Another in the Afternoon Tea With ... series. This time it's John's turn





	Starlight

Penelope looked a little sheepish as she handed over the thermos flask and a tightly wrapped package of rather squished up sandwiches.

“Sorry,” was her reply, “I had originally planned to bring a lot more … but …”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“… I had to go through the rather tight and unnecessary scrutiny and security of your family … and more so … Brains.”

He took the items and grinned.

“Bet you never expected the Spanish Inquisition,” he remarked.  
“You have NO idea.”

She flopped … or tried to flop down on the nearest available seat, but found herself bumping into the curved wall. She pushed her hand against the plastic covering and felt herself twirling weightlessly across the corridor, a queasy feeling crept over her. 

And to think, she’d prepared for all of this. Packed a wicker hamper full of John’s favourite treats, including crumbly shortcake biscuits and delightful decadent chocolate cake. She’d spent time in the zero gravity simulator …

… and was told emphatically, that there was NO WAY she could take these things on board Thunderbird 5. 

Firstly, there was room enough for only one single passenger in the space elevator. And by the time the hamper was sent up, then she’d have to wait for another rotation of the earth before she herself could finally be launched. Realistically, they explained, it was a serious pull on the resources, as well as being a tad inconvenient for everyone. If there’d been a rescue that required John, then afternoon tea would just have to wait.

Secondly, she had the indignation and humiliation of having the hamper searched and practically everything confiscated. This time, the excuse was that there was a lot of sensitive equipment on board Thunderbird 5, and any stray crumbs would cause some serious, if not irrepairable damage to the spacecraft. It was costing a fortune already and in between rescues, John was constantly working around the clock to replace burned out relays as well as patch holes in the outer hull, as it was constantly bombarded by space rocks.

She was determined to have afternoon tea with John, and by thunder, she was going to do it. So, after a long heated battle with everyone, she managed to take a couple of ‘approved’ items with her.

She’d expected EOS to put up a bit of a front, but was surprised when the normally chatty, yet snotty (according to Gordon and Alan) AI unit, was pleasant and open. Maybe John had had a word with her?

Grabbing the nearest hand grip, she righted herself, took a deep breath and got her bearings, before turning to face a rather bemused John. Who, by the way, as she’d noticed, looked as if he was born to do this stuff.

“So,” she said finally, “how are we going to do this then?”

She swept her arm around the confined space.

“Obviously there aren’t any fancy tables with linen and silver cutlery anywhere. Nor are there any fancy china teacups and saucers.”

She sighed and tried rolling her eyes, only for a touch of vertigo to kick in. That felt really strange, as she wasn’t at all afraid of heights. Just this zero gravity. Now she knew how Parker felt when he had to drift through a scorching hot room to turn off the controls of the solar collector. Although this place wasn’t burning up. The temperature was quite … pleasant.

She pointed at the flask.

“Since you’re pretty clever at this … “ she remarked with a smile, “I suppose you can be ‘mother’.”


End file.
